The present invention relates to an independent wheel suspension for steerable wheels of motor vehicles, with a wheel carrier and a wheel guide member formed by two individual guide links pivotally connected at the vehicle body and the wheel carrier which, in the straight position of the wheel carrier, extend in an arrow-like manner onto the wheel carrier and which together with a further wheel guide member for the wheel carrier define an imaginary instantaneous steering axis that is positioned obliquely to the plane of the point of contact of the wheel with the road surface and extends through the same outside this point of contact.
A wheel suspension of this type is already known in the prior art (DE-AS 19 38 850). Common to this prior art wheel suspension and all other known constructions of independent wheel suspensions is that dynamic wheel load fluctuations, conditioned by the inclination of the steering axis, produce a moment about the same which is transmitted to the steering wheel by way of a steering arm and a steering tie-rod and must ultimately be braced at the steering wheel by muscle force.
The present invention is concerned with the task to so improve a wheel suspension of the aforementioned type that dynamically changing wheel contact forces are no longer noticeable by the driver in a disagreeable manner and that the prestress of the steering linkage resulting from the moment effective about the steering axis can be reduced, respectively, the steering linkage can ultimately be unstressed.
The underlying problems are solved according to the present invention in that at least one obliquely positioned support member elastic in the support direction is arranged between one of the two individual guide links and the vehicle body and in that the support force transmitted from the support member to the individual guide link is directed in such a manner that a support force component extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the guide link produces a further moment counteracting the moment occurring about the steering axis.
The support member provided in accordance with the present invention which is supported at one of the individual guide members and at the vehicle body forms a component of the wheel suspension that does not contribute any components for the wheel guidance. It may be formed, for example, by a shock absorber, a coil spring, or a torsion rod stabilizer supported in a suitable manner on the individual guide link. These components may also be supported thereby in a corresponding combination in common on the individual guide link and at the vehicle body.
The present invention is equally advantageously suited for wheel suspensions which, in addition to the wheel guide member subdivided into two individual guide links, include a further wheel guide member in the form of a shock absorber leg or spring leg, of a longitudinal guide link or of a cross guide link. In case of a double transverse guide member axle, the upper or the lower cross guide member can be subdivided into two individual guide links for the support of the support member.
Preferably the lower guide member is subdivided into two individual guide links and the support member or members are supported on the individual guide link located to the rear, as viewed in the driving direction.